Rebel leader flees to DRC
2006-03-16 13:43
Kampala - The head of a guerilla army that has displaced more than 1.5 million people in northern Uganda has camped in a game park in the lawless north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, says a Ugandan army spokesperson on Thursday.
Major Felix Kulayigye said that reclusive Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander Joseph Kony, who had evaded the government troops in northern Uganda and around his bases in southern Sudan, had set up a camp in Garamba National Park in DRC.
The LRA, a vicious rebel army, for 20 years had been killing and maiming thousands of people.
The group, whose political agenda was unknown, had been beefing up its numbers by abducting thousands of youths, some of whom had been taken to Sudan and forced to commit atrocities while some female victims had been turned into sex slaves.
Late last year, LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti crossed from Sudan into the DRC, also to Garamba National Park.
The International Criminal Court had issued arrest warrants for the two men and other LRA leaders and intended to charge them with war crimes.
In January, LRA rebels killed eight Guatemalan United Nations peacekeepers, who, together with Congolese troops, fought the rebels around Garamba.
- SAPA